


Light and Shadow

by Viola_Laterra



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: F/M, Lost Love, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 15:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17469791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viola_Laterra/pseuds/Viola_Laterra
Summary: The chosen hero, after the war, is missing something he can never find again.(written 26 March 2017)





	Light and Shadow

Link sat at the edge of the lake, waiting for the sun to go down. Only on certain days, when the weather was just right... the clouds were low enough, the air was just slightly moist... then, *just* after sunset, the light looked like it had in the Twilight Realm.

Today was one of those days. He'd wished Ilia a good evening; she'd gone off with Epona to rub her down in the spring. Ilia knew he sometimes needed to go off by himself. Everyone in the village gave him space when he needed it; they knew he had suffered, had worked very hard, to free their world during the Twilight War. So Ilia was happy to spend time with him when he sought her out; and he loved to be with her. But... there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think of Midna.

Zelda had called on him, once or twice, for help on something. He was happy to oblige her as well; after all, he was the chosen hero. That didn't really go away, though they had defeated Ganon. And from time to time Zelda had a problem that she didn't have time to handle herself. He fought off monsters, found lost children, went in search of new mysterious artifacts. He had put most of the important artifacts from the war back in the places he had found them; he had decided that he knew where to get them if he needed them, after all. They were safest in the places the ancients had left them for their own protection -- and for the protection of the people who would try to use them.

When he met with Zelda, he usually didn't say much. Just listened to her request, nodded, sometimes smiled, and went to do her bidding. Once, she had tried to ask him if he was all right. It had been an evening like this one... you could almost imagine Midna, imp or princess, standing at the horizon, gilded by the reflected light of the setting sun. Zelda had looked out at the sunset, looked back at him, saw the faraway look in his eyes, and said to him, "I miss her too." He'd caught his breath, looked back at her, and saw a very real sympathy on the Princess' typically very serious face. She'd placed a hand on his arm, and added, "And you spent a long time with her, back then -- more than I did." She hesitated, then said, "If you ever want to talk about it, let me know." He guessed this wasn't an offer she made lightly; perhaps not something she'd ever said to another person. As busy as she was as ruler of the kingdom, she was also not a very social person. He'd come to see her to take her requests several times when she happened to be in the middle of a meal; he'd noted that she ate alone, with only one servant who had cooked the food and brought it in to her. There were hardly ever any other people in the castle, and those that were appeared to be there on official business, like him.

So, he'd nodded, put a hand on hers for a moment, then bowed and turned to go take care of her particular request of the day. He'd never taken her up on the offer; he'd never known what he could say about Midna to Zelda. He'd never known what to say to himself about Midna. She had been good company, she had had a good heart... she had always pushed him, and helped him. She had come, herself, to understand how she wanted to rule, and that the people of his world weren't enemies. He admitted to himself that he'd loved her even when she was an imp. And that several hours together, when she was in her true form... he'd been struck completely speechless by her beauty. She'd teased him about that when he'd first seen her, but it was true. He didn't have words for her beauty.

Of course, Ilia was beautiful, and so was Zelda. But Midna... with her orange eyes and pale blue-grey skin -- a lot of which had been showing, he remembered a little sheepishly -- the ornaments and royal cloak... she'd been a more exotic beauty than he could have imagined. And yet she was still the sassy imp he'd come to know during the Twilight War. It had only been a few hours between defeating Ganon and when he, Zelda, and Midna had stood before the mirror. She'd made a few wisecracks during that time, but she must have known from the start that she'd never see them again. She must have planned, as soon as she had seen what the mirror had done to Yeta and the other creatures, that if she succeeded in taking back her kingdom, she would destroy the mirror. So she was much more serious than he'd gotten used to. He'd thought it had to do with her change, but when he saw her step up to the transport square on the pedestal of the Sages, and she'd turned back to him... spoke his name, and shed a single amber tear which flew towards the mirror like an arrow of light... he'd known. He hadn't wanted to believe it, but he'd known.

He didn't know what they could have had, light and shadow, together. He hadn't even had a chance to think about it. Now, instead, he just kept his memories of her, mostly riding around on his back when he'd taken the form of the wolf, or hiding in his shadow, or when he'd carried her limp body to Zelda for healing, or just after she'd broken through Ganon's barrier around the castle... and sometimes, the memories of how she'd looked when he'd last seen her. He let those memories keep him warm, deep in his heart, when he went on with his life otherwise. 

And there was a lot to do. So usually it was when he was falling asleep or waking up that he thought of her. But this evening... the light was just right. He could just close his eyes and imagine her sitting next to him. "Why so sad? You take yourself too seriously," he thought she might say. And he probably did.

The light flared on the lake as the sun went down behind it; then twilight faded from sunset-gold to silvered blue-grey. From Midna's eyes to her skin, he thought. The moment was over, then; the stars came out against a very dark night sky. He sent his thoughts to her, the Twilight Princess -- he dared to think, in moments like this, his Twilight Princess -- and then got back to his life again. Ilia was waiting for him at home.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Midna. I think she's so awesome. How could she not have left Link permanently incomplete?
> 
> Also, I find it fun to try to write Link consistent with the Heroic Mime/Silent Hero trope.


End file.
